Kalex-KTM debuts at Moto3 Valencia test

Héctor Faubel made the first laps aboard the Aspar Team’s KTM powered Kalex on Wednesday, the first day of Moto3 testing at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia.

Héctor Faubel (Aspar Team) took to the controls of the KTM engine powered Kalex for the first time on Wednesday, the bike will ride next year in the new Moto3 category. The Valencian rider was only able to complete about 10 laps on the first of the two-day private Moto3 test that began yesterday in Valencia.

The first day of testing at the Valencia circuit was filled with more activity in the team pit boxes than on the track itself, as both the Aspar Team and the RW Racing GP Team needed several hours to assemble the machines that arrived directly from the factory. Neither Alberto Moncayo, who signed with the Aspar Team on Tuesday, nor Luis Salom of the RW Racing GP Team made it onto the pavement, though KTM test rider Joan Olivé was able to join Faubel on track.

Following his first contact with the Kalex-KTM, Faubel said: "The first impression is that the bike goes quite well, it moves pretty good for a new bike and the engine is very different, it’s flatter and the power band is lower than the two-strokes. Now we have a lot of work to do because this bike is like a baby and needs to evolve."

"I made a few laps, maybe ten, because they had to assemble and prepare the bike first, but I know the four-strokes and everything felt fine. It’s early to say anything more about the bike," continued Faubel. "Tomorrow I expect we will work on the carburetion and fuel injection, which is different from the two-strokes, and we will work a bit with the chassis, since we put the bike on the track as it came from the factory."